IGNACE — Upgrade facilities at the municipal aerodrome for $8 million, or spend $41 million to turn it into a full-fledged airport – those are two options consultants presented to Ignace council this week.
The township, which could be the host municipality for a nuclear waste facility a decade from now, heard on Monday from a firm it contracted earlier this year to look into the matter.
The Loomex Group told councillors restoring the aerodrome, which hasn’t been used in many years, would cost $8.4 million.
The cost of a “full airport buildout” – which would include widening and lengthening the runway so it could accommodate business jets – was pegged at $41.8 million.
The township’s councillors will make a decision later, Mayor Kim Baigrie said Tuesday.
“So council has to really sit down and think, ‘OK… are we going to keep it as an aerodrome?’
“You know, that would be beautiful. That would be beautiful if it was an aerodrome, because I’m sure that people would be flying into this community.”
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization chose Ignace last year to be host municipality for a multibillion-dollar deep geological repository, or DGR, for used fuel bundles from nuclear power plants.
If the DGR project clears regulatory and licensing hurdles, construction could begin in the early 2030s.
Loomex also presented some “alternative land use” options for the aerodrome property on the west side of Ignace.
The land could be turned into a “supply chain and operations hub” for the DGR project and enterprises “such as indoor farming initiatives and nearby mining and forestry operations,” the report to council stated.
The report said this option would be built along the “key themes” of logistic and supply chain support, workforce and contractor services, economic and community integration, and specialized project infrastructure.
Another alternative is building an “outdoor hub” on the aerodrome site, the Loomex report said.
The outdoor hub would include a campground and sport fields.
The township on Highway 17 contracted Explorer Solutions, a division of Loomex, earlier this year to survey residents on their thoughts about the aerodrome and housing.
